Second Chances
by MaryFan1
Summary: Debra and Ray meet after they have both been married and their spouses have died. Ray has Ally and the twins and Debra has a daughter.  She has just moved to LI because of her job.
1. Chapter 1

Ray Barone got of his car in the garage and walked into the kitchen where his mother was cooking dinner for him and his kids. She had been such a big help since his wife Sarah had died 6 months earlier but Ray wanted his children to have a mother.

"Hi, Ma," He says kissing her on the cheek.

"Hello, Dear." She says as she stirs the sauce for the spaghetti.

"Where are the kids?" He asks hanging up his coat.

"Oh they're upstairs. Ally has a new friend that came home from school with her, her name is Lily. I told her she could stay for dinner and her mother will be picking her up later."

"Okay. I'll go get the kids."

After dinner the kids are upstairs doing homework and Ray is downstairs finishing up some changes for his column when the doorbell rings. He gets up to answer it.

"Hi," an attractive brunette says, "I'm Debra Whalen, Lily's mom."

"Oh, sure come on in. Have a seat." He says as she steps inside.

"Thank you for inviting her over. She has had a hard time since we moved here and I am glad she and Ally are friends." She says.

"How long have you lived here?" Ray asks, intrigued by the woman standing before him.

"Oh, about a month ago, I got transferred with my job." She explains.

"Really, what do you do?" He asks.

"I do PR for the Rangers. Fortunately I don't have to travel anymore. I stopped when my husband died." She explains.

"Oh, I am so sorry. My wife died about 6 months ago. I know what you mean. I write for Newsday and travel a lot. My parents live across the street so that helps a great deal." He says nervously.

"You write for Newsday? Wait, you're Ray Barone? Wow, the guys at work talk about your column all the time. They will be jealous I got to meet you." She smiles a smile Ray had never seen before. It was like the sun came out.

"Well, I don't know how jealous they would be," he pauses looking at his watch, "Oh, I guess you probably want to get your daughter and go home," He says then calls upstairs.

"Thanks, I do need to get her home to bed," She says.

"She's a great kid. Ally has had it really hard since her mom died. My mom is great but she misses Sarah a lot." Ray says sadly.

"I know. Lily and her dad were close. He was serving overseas and died in combat. I didn't know how either of us was going to get through it."

"Hi Mommy," Lily says as she and Ally come downstairs.

"Hi sweetheart," she says giving her daughter a hug.

"Mommy, can Ally spend the night Friday? Please?" She looks up at Debra with the same brown eyes.

"Well, if Ally's dad says okay." She says, then turns and looks at Ray.

Ally also looks at Ray, "Please Daddy?"

"Alright, how can I say no to that face?" he jokes.

"Yah!" both girls exclaim.

"Come on Lily we need to get home." Debra says.

"Bye Ally," She says and turns to Ray, "Thank you Mr. Barone for letting me come over."

"Well Lily, you are more than welcome."

Debra smiles again, "Thanks, so I guess Ally can ride the bus home with her Friday if that's okay, we just live on Edgewood."

"That's fine. Well, good night, Debra, and good night to you Lily." He says as they walk out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day Ray, Robert and Gianni were having dinner at Nemo's. Marie and Frank were keeping the kids. Ray was trying to pay attention to the conversation but he couldn't stop thinking about Debra.

"Hey Big Nose, what's with you?" Gianni asks.

"Huh?" Ray asks

"You've been staring into your soda for a 15 minutes. Are you alright?" Gianni asks again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking about this woman I met last night." He explains.

"Woman? Do tell." Gianni says

"Come on man, stop drooling," Robert says then turns to Ray, "What woman? Does she work at the paper?"

"No, actually Ally has a new friend at school and it's her mother. She's a widow and just moved here about a month ago." Ray answers, his face almost lighting up as he remembers Debra's smile.

"Why don't you ask her out?" Gianni asks.

Just then Debra walks in the restaurant to pick up a pizza. Ray notices her from across the room, "Oh my God. There she is."

"Who?" Robert asks.

"Her. Debra." He answers.

Robert and Gianni look to see Ray pointing toward a very attractive brunette at the counter.

"Go over there and ask her. She's beautiful." Robert encourages.

Just then she notices Ray and comes toward their table, "Hey, Ray. Funny running into you here. How are you?"

Ray is stunned and fumbles for words, "Uh, oh. I'm fine. How are you?"

"Fine, just picking up a pizza for me and Lily. I promised her she could have it tonight." She explains and looks awkwardly at Robert and Gianni.

"Oh, God, where are my manners? This is my brother Robert and my friend Gianni." Ray says introducing everyone.

"Well, I better get going. The sitter probably wants to get home." She smiles the same smile that lifted Ray's spirits.

"Okay, well, I guess I will see you when I pick Ally up on Saturday." He says.

"Oh, yeah. Well, it was nice to meet you fellas." She says and heads for the door.

Ray watches until she is out the door.

"Why didn't yo ask her out?" Gianni pries.

"I'm not gonna do that in front of you two. Besides I don't know. Maybe I shouldn't." Ray reasons.

"Why shouldn't you? You obviously like her." Robert says.

"Well, it's not just me. I don't know if the kids are ready for me to date. It hasn't been that long." Ray explains.

"You can talk to them about it. They might be okay with it." Gianni says.

"Look, I'll handle this," Ray says, 'Let's just order.


	3. Chapter 3

Saturday morning Ray pulls up to Debra's house to pick up Ally. He tries to muster up his courage to ask her out. He never thought he would feel this way about another woman. He walks up to the door and knocks.

"Hi, Come on in." Debra says greeting him.

"Hi. I hope Ally wasn't much trouble last night. She can be a handful." Ray says nervously.

"Oh no, she was fine. They had a great time playing barbie and watching The Princess Diaries." She assures him, "They're upstairs, I'll go get her for you."

"Wait," Ray says, "I wanted to know if you would like to have dinner sometime. Nothing fancy just get a pizza at Nemo's."

"Um, yeah. That would be great." She replies enthusiastically.

"Really? Okay, how about next weekend?" He suggests.

"Sure," she responds, "Well, I'll go get Ally." she says and heads upstairs.

_Oh My God,_ Ray thinks, _What am I doing? I'm not ready for this. But she is so sweet and pretty._

"Daddy!" Ally comes bounding down the stairs followed by Debrar and Lily, running right to Ray to give him a big hug.

"

"Hey Sweetheart, did you have fun?" He asks.

"Yeah, we pigged out and Lily's mom painted our nails, see," She holds up her hands with dainty pink polish on her nails, "Just like mommy used to do."

Ally hadn't mentioned her mother in several weeks. He hoped she was still moving forward and beginning to accept it better, "That's great Honey, Say goodbye we need to go get the boys at the ball park."

"Bye Lily, see you at school." Ally says, "Thank you Ms.Whalen for inviting me. I had fun."

"Oh, you're welcome. You can come over anytime." She says, stroking Ally's blonde hair, her heart went out to this little girl who missed her mom. She then turns to Ray, "So I'll see you Friday night?"

"Um, yeah, about 8?" he asks, "I'll pick you up."

"Great, see you then." She says as she closes the door behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

Ray stood in front of the mirror checking his appearance. He hadn't been this nervous in a long time. They had decided to let Lily come over to play with Ally so Debra was due any minute. Ray went downstairs where his parents were watching TV.

"Hey, Ma. Do I look alright?" He asks, straightening his tie.

"Oh, Sweetheart you look very handsome. You'll sweep her off her feet." Marie answers giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Yeah, yeah, you and that big nose of yours." Frank quips.

"Thanks, Dad. Listen, just keep your mouth shut and your pants when she gets here. I don't want her to run screaming from the house." Ray says as there's a knock on the door, "Oh, God. She's here."

"Now Raymond, just relax. She obviously likes you or she wouldn't have said yes to this date." His mother assures him.

"Thanks, Ma," Ray says and answers the door, "Hi," he says as Debra and Lily come in.

"Mr. Barone, is Ally upstairs?" Lily asks.

"Yes, she is. You can go on up." Ray says and Lily heads upstairs.

He turns to Debra, "Well, I guess we better get going."

"Hey, Ray aren't you going to introduce us?" Frank says getting up from his chair.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Mom, Dad this is Debra." He says hoping his parents will behave themselves.

"Hi, it's nice to meet you both." Debra says.

"Well it's nice to meet you Dear." Marie says, "now you two run along and enjoy yourselves."

At the restaurant they choose a table out of the way so they can talk. They're looking over the menu chatting.

"Your family seemed nice. It must be great living so close to them. My family lives in Connecticut. I was living with my parents for a while after Steve died. It sure helped Lily to be with them a lot."

"Yeah, it has been good for the kids to have my parents around. But I would prefer to live farther away sometimes. Even before Sarah died my mother was over all the time, drove her crazy. But she took it all in stride. Even the time they drove the car through our house."

Debra laughed hartily, "What?"

"Oh, yeah. We were watching TV one afternoon and BOOM! right through the house. They were backing out and the brakes were bad and they couldn't stop." He explains to Debra who is still laughing.

"Oh, my that is funny. But I guess it wasn't at the time. My parents are pretty boring compared to that. They travel a lot though. Mostly exotic places like Vietnam." She says.

Ray almost chokes on his breakstick, "Vietnam? Who vacations there?"

"My parents. My sister is a nun in Africa. I guess she got the fever from them. I always wanted a regular life, husband, kids." she says with a hint of sadness.

"Me, too. We were high school sweethearts." Ray says.

Debra looks at him sympthetically, "If you don't mind me asking. How did she-'"

"Oh, she had cancer for a long time. It was a blessing. She was in a lot of pain." he recalls.

Debra reaches over and puts her hand on his, "I'm sorry. It had to be difficult to watch someone you love go through that. I imagine that's harder than getting that phone call saying your husband's been killed in combat."

"It was hard. I wanted to make it all better but I couldn't. I wouldn't wish it on anyone." he says managing a smile as they see the waitress approach to take their order.


	5. Chapter 5

It has been a month since Ray and Debra have been seeing each other. Debra was at Ray's preparing dinner for them and the kids. Marie walks in suprised to see her there.

"Oh, hello Debra." She says forcing a smile.

"Hi, Marie. How are you?" Debra says as she opens the oven and pulls out some dinner rolls.

"I'm fine Dear. What are you doing?" She asks.

"Just getting dinner ready. Ray should be home soon. I left work early today to be with the kids." She explains.

"Oh, well I was going to make Steak Pizziola, Raymond's favorite." Marie says disappointed.

Debra looks at her sympathetically, "Oh, I am sorry Marie. Ray didn't tell me."

"That's alright. Frank will eat it," Marie says, "So did Raymond give you a key to the house?"

"Well,yes and he as a key to mine." Debra answers continuing to prepare dinner.

"Ah, that's nice." Marie says as Ray walks in the door.

"Hey, sweetness." He says giving Debra a kiss.

"Hey yourself. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes." She says.

"Ummm smells great!" He says hanging up his coat.

"Hello Raymond." Marie says.

"Hi, Ma." he says kissing her on the cheek.

"I was going to make Steak Pizziola but Debra already started dinner for you. I wish you had told me."

"I forgot. You can make it tomorrow night" He says then turns to Debra, "Are the kids upstairs?"

"Yeah, hopefully going their homework. The boys need to clean their room. Can you check on them?" she asks.

"Sure." He says.

"Raymond, I need to talk to you. Alone." Marie interrupts.

Ray and Debra exchange a look, "Oh, okay. I'll go check. Could you just watch the sauce?"

"Yeah, no problem." Ray says then addresses Marie, "Alright, Ma. What is it?"

"Well, it's just I had planned to make a special dinner and you forget and now she is over here cooking."

Ray sighs, "Look I am sorry I forgot but so what if she is over here cooking. Why does that bother you?"

"I guess you just don't need me anymore. I had no idea you two had become so serious so fast." Marie laments.

"Ma, it's not that we don't need you it's just that I really care about Debra. I think I may be in love with her. I didn't think I would ever love anyone after Sarah died. We have a lot in common and she loves the kids and I love Lily. It feels like a family again. Can't you understand that? We were lonely and hurting and now we make each other happy. At least I hope I make her happy." Ray explains.

"Do you want to marry her?" Marie asks.

"I don't know Ma. We haven't even talked about that. We just enjoy being together and I guess that's enough right now. We're taking it slow." Ray says.

Debra comes back into the kitchen, "Ray, can you come back upstairs with me?"

"Uh, sure. What's wrong?" He asks.

"It's the boys, can you just talk to them?"

"Okay, sure," he says then turns to Marie,"Ma, do you understand what I said?"

"Yes, Dear. You go on upstairs. I need to go feed your father." She says and walks out the door.

Ray turns back to Debra and notices she has been crying, "Hey, what's wrong? 

"I told the boys to clean their room and they told me they didn't have to listen to me because I wasn't their mother."

"Oh, Honey, it's okay" He says embracing her, "I'll go talk to them."

"Thank you." She says resting her head on his chest.

Ray releases his embrace and heads upstairs to the twins room where they are playing with their toys.

"Boys,you need to clean your room, now." Ray says emphatically.

"No we want to play" Michael says.

Ray takes the toys away from them, "No, you need to clean your room and you should not have talked to Debra that way."

"She isn't our mommy. Why do we have to do what she says?" Jeffrey asks.

"Because she is in charge if I am not here and I told you myself this morning to clean your room when you got home."

"Are you going to marry her?" Michael blurts out.

"What? Why do you ask that?" Rays says suprised.

"She's always here and she is telling us what to do like Mommy did. We see you kiss her all the time." Jeffrey answers.

"Guys, I don't know if I will marry her. I care about her a lot and maybe I love her but we haven't been seeing each other that long." He pauses to gauge their reactions, "Look, I will always love your mom. But she's gone and I think she would all of us to be happy and Debra is really nice and funny. I think Mom would like her being with us."

Michael and Jeffrey look at each other then at Ray, "I guess mommy would like that." Michael agrees.

"Yeah, so you guys start cleaning and we'll call you for dinner." Ray says heading for the door.

"Daddy," Jeffrey says.

"Yeah,"

"We want you to be happy too."

Ray smiles holding back tears. Sarah would be proud of her boys.


	6. Chapter 6

Six months have passed and Ray and Debra have been living together for a couple of months. He has finally decided to pop the question. Debra is getting the kids ready for bed and he is downstairs practicing his proposal when he decides to go upstairs and see how things are going.

He peeks in and Ally and Lily are finishing up homework and he can hear voices coming from the twins' room as Debra tucks them in. He peeks in and watches.

"Okay, guys. Let's get those jammies on." She says handing them each a pair.

They put them on and climb into bed as Debra gives them each a goodnight kiss, "Good night boys. Sleep tight."

"Good Night Mommy." They say in unison as she reaches the door about to leave.

Debra turns around her eyes filling up with tears, "You guys never called me that before. What gives?"

Ray is listening and tears up as well. He had no idea they wanted to call her mommy.

"Well, we were talking to Grandma and she said that Mommy was our mommy in heaven and she sent you to be our mommy here and take care of us since she can't be with us anymore. So we decided to call you Mommy too." Michael explains.

Debra doesn't even try to stop the tears and Jeffrey comes over to Michael's bed and they all hug, "You guys, that is the nicest thing anyone ever said to me. I love you both very much and if it's okay, can I say you're my boys?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure!" They exclaim.

"Alright, then it's lights out, okay." She says.

"Okay," They say getting back under the covers, "We love you too, Mommy."

She smiles as she shuts door behind her. Ray had made a beeline downstairs so she wouldn't know he was listening.

She finds him sitting on the couch, "Hey, the boys are in bed and Ally and Lily are finishing up their homework." She says sitting beside him.

He puts his arm around her and kisses the top of her head, "Great, now it's time for you and me."

"Oh?" she asks.

Ray reaches into his pocket and gets down on one knee and looks at a stunned Debra, "Debra Whalen, will you marry me?"

More tears come to her eyes, "Oh, Ray," She says, "Of course I will marry you! Yes!"

He jumps up and does his happy dance on the couch, then sits back down and slips the ring on her finger, "I love you so very much and you have made the happiest man in the world."

She looks at the ring and then at Ray, "You couldn't possibly be any happier than I am."

Their lips meet and they melt into a warm kiss mingled with tears of joy.


End file.
